A NIGERIAN MAN separated from his wife following his deportation has appealed to be reunited with her.
“It is very, very surprising that the Government was able to separate a husband and wife,” Tosan told Metro Éireann from Lagos.
The Nigerian man, who asked for his last name to be withheld, married his Ghanaian partner at a registry office in 2007 after the pair met at an asylum seekers’ hostel in Co Monaghan. They were then based at the Mosney asylum seeker centre in Co Meath, from where Tosan was taken for deportation on 30 June last.
He had claimed to have fled Nigeria in 2004 due to “political and family problems”, but his application for refugee status was rejected, as was his appeal. His wife is awaiting a decision on her status.
She confirmed her identity to Metro Éireann but declined to be interviewed, and said she wanted “no trouble”.
“Everything is very difficult for me at the moment, it is not easy to survive the hardship of Africa,” said Tosan. “It was a shock, I was sleeping in my bed, the gardaí woke me up and told me I was being deported to Nigeria, I was very shocked.
“Now I am back in Africa with no-one to fall upon. I cannot leave my wife in another place. I have nothing to do, no family, and am living by the grace of God.”
The Nigerian described his wife as “very upset”, and remarked: “My wife is coping by God’s grace and I’m giving her word of advice.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has rubbished rumours in the Nigerian community that it cannot deport Ghanaian nationals.
A department spokesperson said that while no “formal readmission” agreement exists with Ghana, Irish authorities have “good relations” with its Ghanaian counterparts in terms of receiving failed asylum seekers.
Presently, some 79 Ghanaian nationals are known to be failed asylum applicants with deportation orders made against them. “It is not possible to confirm their current whereabouts,” said the spokesperson.
Three deportations to Ghana have taken place in the last five years, at a minimum cost of €159,471.
